Teens Using Drugs: What to Know and What to Do Teens Using Drugs: What To Know and What To Do is a free, ongoing, two-part series that provides helpful, practical information about the effects of substance use on young people, and how to recognize and help young people who may be experiencing problems related to alcohol/other drug use. This annual series resumes on October 1st from 6 to 7:30 PM at the St. Joesph Mercy Hospital Education Center.
After School Tutoring 826michigan offers completely free homework support in all academic subjects for students aged 8 to 18.After school tutoring starts Monday September 30th from 4 to 6 PM inside Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair.
I want to share with you an event that Ann Arbor Open is hosting in a couple of weeks that you are welcome to promote to your families. Our QSA group is putting on an Allyship Training on Monday, May 20th from 6-8pm at Open. The training will focus on:
Language of the LGBTQIA+ community
Explanation of the difference between gender and orientation
Discussion of inclusion and diversity, as well as an understanding of privilege
Ways to help support children and their friends
How children can be impacted when families do not understand them and their experience
ALL K-8 parents are welcome to attend.
Parenting the Love & Logic Way Angell Principal Gary Court returns with the Parenting the Love & Logic Way workshop. Learn to break the cycle of whining and arguing and gain practical skills to help raise kids who are responsible, respectful and fun to be around. Click here for more details and to register. Workshop spans two weeks, Thursday 3/7 and 3/14.
Hello AAPS/WISD friends,
I wanted to share with you some information about a way in which your students impacted by anxiety can access CBT at U-M at no cost, and WITH NO WAIT LIST (!) through a research study being led by my colleague and friend, Dr. Kate Fitzgerald. Kate is studying brain-based mechanisms of anxiety, and her study provides the same CBT approach taught through TRAILS, but delivered by very highly skilled individual therapists, supervised by Kate, customized to the specific worries and fears of each student.
Elementary, middle school and high school students ages 7-18 years can participate; and because the CBT is part of a study, participants are paid up to $395!
To find out more, you or your students and families can call Riley Lowe at 734-232-0130 or email [email protected].
Please share widely this extremely unique opportunity!
Many thanks, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Koschmann, PhD TRAILS Program Director University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry 4250 Plymouth Rd. Ann Arbor, MI. 48019 P: 734.232.0297 www.TRAILStoWellness.org
Viewpoint on education: High school guidance counselor Robert Bardwell urges parents to be resolved to limit kids' smartphone use. Every data point indicates smart phones are significantly changing how we interact and how we communicate. And in most cases not for the better. If teens were to put the phones away and limit their screen time, especially around bedtime, we'll find that they will be happier and less likely to suffer from mental health issues, more attentive in school and alert while driving and better prepared for daily activities. (Stock image) 251 sharesBy The Republican
By Robert E. Bardwell Special to The RepublicanNo doubt many folks, young and old, may have found a smartphone under the Christmas tree last month. If Santa earned a commission for each phone gifted, I bet he would be a very rich person. Iphones came into existence in 2007 and smartphone usage skyrocketed shortly thereafter in 2009. They are called smart because they pretty much can do anything - make a phone call, take a picture, access the internet and via downloadable apps, order take out, navigate your drive across the country or turn off your home heat when not at home. It has been said that the smartphones of today could have powered the first space shuttle mission.
The problem is that the most recent national research shows that smartphones are really bad and will fundamentally alter society as we know it. Why, you ask?
Smartphones increase bullying, particularly cyberbullying: Bullying has long been part of the adolescent experience but with the advent of smartphones and other online platforms, it's now anonymous and easier than ever. In days past, most bullying incidents occurred face-to-face, but now it happens 24-7 and depending on what venue is used, there is a permanent record of any incident. It also takes less guts to post an anonymous comment than to say or do something in person.
Smartphones make people sadder: There is a direct relationship between the amount of time spent on a screen and a person's level of happiness. Regardless of the type of screen, numerous surveys show a link between screen usage and happiness. The significant spike in teen and adult mental health treatment can also be tied into increased phone usage. Ask any educator today what is the biggest crisis facing us and they are bound to report that the increase in teen anxiety, depression and other mental health related diagnoses would be at the top of our lists.
Smartphones interrupt and interfere with sleep: One in four adolescents in 2015 got fewer than seven hours of sleep a night, two hours less than the recommended nine hours per night. And that is 17 percent less sleep than teens logged just six years ago. Teens who are on a screen more than five hours a day are 50 percent more likely not to get enough sleep as compared to those who spend one hour or less. The light emitted by the phone screen significantly interferes with the body's natural sleep-wake patterns. Even if a teen goes right back to sleep after reading a text, the quality of sleep thereafter is negatively impacted.
Smartphones cause more problems for teen drivers: Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of teen death. Every day, six teens aged 16 to 19 die from a car accident in the United States. In 2015, some 391,000 people were injured in a car accident and 3,477 people were killed due to distracted drivers, including using a cellphone while driving. As teens become more addicted to their phones, unable to put them down or away, this number is only likely to increase.
And given the number of smartphones that exist today, the earlier an age that a child gets one and the increased dependence on these devices, it is only going to get worse. Every data point indicates smartphones are significantly changing how we interact and how we communicate. And in most cases not for the better.
So what's a parent to do? The first option is to not give a child a smartphone in the first place or delay it as long as possible. Old-fashioned cellphones, the ones that aren't so smart because they are not connected to the internet and only can make calls and send text messages, are an option. Yes, you might hear "Everyone has one!" from your second-grader, but you are still the parent and most likely pay the bill.
If it is impossible to withhold the phone or provide a low-tech one, then parents are strongly urged to set up controls that limit the amount of time a child can access the internet. It is particularly critical for evening usage, especially considering the issues related to teen sleeping patterns. The phone should be shut off at least 30 minutes prior to bedtime and should be shut off and left in another room during sleep time.
If teens were to put the phones away and limit their screen time, especially around bedtime, we'll find that they will be happier and less likely to suffer from mental health issues, more attentive in school and alert while driving and better prepared for daily activities. Sure, phones are nice conveniences, but we survived thousands of years before their invention and we can survive without them or at least without them as much.
So while it may be too late for Santa this year, it's not too late for parents to limit the amount of time their child has access to or when he may use the smartphone. Let's all make a resolution for 2018 - less phone.
Robert Bardwell is school counselor and director of guidance and student support services at Monson High School. Learn more about him and his work at bobbardwell.com.
University of Michigan Bright Nights Forum Series
Postpartum Depression: What You Don't Expect When You're Expecting Tuesday, October 9 | 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Ann Arbor District Library | 343 South Fifth Avenue Lead Presenter SAMANTHA SHAW, MD Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry; Michigan Medicine Q&A PANELISTS Lisa Anderson, MSW, Social Worker, Michigan Medicine Monica Starkman, MD, Associate Professor Emerita of Psychiatry; University of Michigan Medical School